Why is this work relevant for Media?

Goldeimer’s “Shitty Paper – Made from hate” is a unique product that resulted from close costumer-brand cooperation. The product’s creation and promotion did not happen in a traditional way, but through the direct contact of Goldeimer with thousands of volunteers from different German cities. Together, they collected hate propaganda spread by right-wing populists during the German federal election in 2017 and recycled it to become toilet paper. Including the costumers led to a complete sellout of the product and lots of earned attention in German, international and social media.

Background

During the German federal election in 2017, the tone and manners of the right-wing campaigns evoked memories from the Third Reich. Right-wing populists spread their fascist propaganda all over the country and stirred up hatred among the Germans.
For Goldeimer, a toilet paper producer with political attitude, the situation needed to change. The pointless hate had to turn into something good.
The goal was an inspiring yet simple solution: remove as much hate propaganda from the streets as possible, then turn it into toilet paper. The aim was to start an international discussion in the media about right-wing politics by showing that Germany does not tolerate racism. All profits generated by “Shitty Paper – Made from hate” should be donated to victims of right-wing violence.

Describe the creative idea/insights

Goldeimer realized that printed hate only serves one purpose – wiping your butt with it. Their “Shitty Paper – Made from hate” is the first toilet paper out of recycled hate propaganda. Truckloads of these hateful prints were collected in cooperation with volunteers from all over Germany, shredded and recycled to become “Shitty Paper – Made from hate”. All profits were donated to CURA to rectify some of the damage that right-wing violence has done in Germany.
Goldeimer and many other Germans became very concerned with the growing influence of right wing populists, which was shown by official election statistics. When a huge group of potential supporters for Goldeimer formed on Facebook, the project was prepared with great focus on costumer integration from start to finish.

Describe the strategy

Every German citizen concerned about the influence of right-wing populists was part of the target audience, whether they already fought right-wing populism or waited for an opportunity to do so.
The focus was on social media. Calls-to-action via Facebook and contact to influencers, magazines and blogs were the most important ways to increase communication. Also, the extensive media coverage of the German federal election was used to spread the word about “Shitty Paper – Made from hate”.
The target audience was met right where the project was realized: at demonstrations against right-wing party events. Further, different social media channels were used to approach them. The range was greatly increased by German and international media.

Describe the execution

Free Hatred Collection Kits were distributed at right-wing party events. The hateful prints were shredded and recycled to become “Shitty Paper – Made from hate”.
Facebook, contact to influencers, magazines and blogs were the most important ways of communication.
Timeline
- September 2017: collection in numerous German cities
- September 24th 2017: federal election for the parliament
- October 2017: paper shredding, pre-sales promotion
- November 2017: pre-sales promotion, production
- December 2017: packaging and sale of Shitty Paper
Goldeimer accompanied the federal election for several months and acquired thousands of volunteers all over Germany. Truckloads of hate propaganda were collected and Goldeimer produced thousands of toilet paper rolls from it. The work became trending topic on Twitter, reached over 10 million people in four months and was reported by major international media like VICE and Al Jazeera.

List the results

100 % of the profits were donated to CURA. Starting with 0 €, a media value of over 1.6 million euros was generated.
The unusual calls to action by Goldeimer raised awareness of how much hate was actually spread in Germany. All volunteers demonstrated great effort in collecting the hate propaganda and donating to those in need. Even non-political people were excited to participate. Together, they turned ideas of hate into something you can laugh your ass off about. This does not only show in the media outputs, but also in the fact that “Shitty Paper – Made from hate” was completely sold out in less than 24 hours.